Linden Woman Scammed Out of $5K in IRS Scam: Police

A 44-year-old Linden woman told police she was scammed out of $5,100 to fake IRS agents who called her on her cell phone.

“The woman stated she started receiving the calls in the early morning hours of October 5 demanding that she pay the $5,100 owed for back taxes, and she initially believed they were a hoax, however more calls persisted and when the callers knew her full name, home address, and cell phone number, she then believed the calls had merit,” according to Linden Police.

The victim claims the callers, who spoke English, but some with an Asian accent, represented themselves as IRS attorneys and law enforcement agents who said there was a warrant issued for her arrest. They continued to tell her she had to wired money transfers immediately to “clear up” the warrant.

She was also threatened her with deportation.

The victim was instructed to purchase a total of six Money Grams totaling the amount owed and sent them to different individuals in Illinois.

“The scammers realize that money orders under $1,000 will not usually raise any suspicions by sales clerks,” Linden Police said.

The victim subsequently realized that this was a scam and notified police. She also called back the phone numbers of the alleged IRS agents and all were no longer active.